CivWiki Newsletter for September 9, 2024

Good morning and happy Monday from the Pacific Northwest!

You wanted a newsletter, you’ll get a newsletter, even if it kills me. I’m sure you’re all really excited about this newsletter for no particular reason.

I know it’s all fun and games when everyone posts all their stuff on Sunday night but man, I think the real issue is I’m very poor at planning when to write. Quite literally, Literal “The” moment

I hope this is enough text to satisfy the front page of the embed. Let’s get right to the news…

Featured

Featured Image

This week’s featured image is at dusk in Brunsvik, Salerno. Upon the little island is actually a surprising amount of really amazing builds — with a medieval build style along with a sprawling town, it was a great place to visit for the day, with every build being really well themed towards the town. My only thing on the wish list is that it was easier to access, but I’m aware that the nation will have rail access within the near future.

Featured Article

This week’s featured article is a repeat of, unsurprisingly, September 4.

Mount September was a democratic nation on CivClassic, founded as a spiritual successor to Mount Augusta. Created following the latter’s move to CivRealms, the country aimed to preserve the culture of Augusta as a new country. Founded to the east of the original city, the country quickly grew with a new voter tree and mall, and within a year had a thriving political system with a Mayor, Judges, and Cupboard (akin to a Cabinet). The country also participated in the Augustan Federation, a loose alliance of all the nations within Mount Augusta’s sphere of influence in order for better cooperation in the region, as well as maintaining relationships to close allies in Gabon and Lusitania.

Their political system lent itself numerous conflicts; continued spits with South Augusta leader TheOrangeWizard were common. The Mount September Ice Road Conflict sprouted from issues with the UDF, who set off alarms near its bunker. However, the country had a weirder, laidback sense of culture. Although events like the Lunar Near Year occurred in the country, the “septem” currency, the first PacStatue, and pictures of founder Squareblob’s profile image were common areas of foolery. CivMC’s iteration of Mount Augusta was set to be a Septembrian successor, however, its main figureheads were not reelected after its early days. (Full article…)

This week’s featured image is a render of Mount September from jasonbord (or, rather jaybirdino).

This Week In Civ

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The News

A beautiful sunrise next to a lighthouse just of the coast of Malasana, Great Western Bay (cr: me).

You’ll see why this matters very soon, maybe in a few sections. I have to set up a lot of things for this, man.

Alcantara Means “Sky Bridge” In Spanish

May I interest you in a post section theme?

Before we get into anything new, here’s a short recap of what happened the week prior.

• Thanis0077, a citizen of Alcantara, had been interfering in neighboring nations’ affairs which led to the pearling of a newfriend that had left the country into Salerno.
• Although originally they placed a travel ban on all Alcantarans, they repealed the travel ban shortly after discovering Thanis is pretty much the sole person behind this.

Alright, now that you sort of have the context, here’s where things get tricky:

• Although Salerno put a notice on Thanis on Sunday last week, they weren’t actively seeking the pearl.
• Hateno, a nation across the map went to scout the land to claim his pearl. They alleged that Gidein of the Great Western Bay (who were incidentally an interested party in this conflict, I’ll explain in a bit) set up a 300d bounty although I have failed to find any evidence to support this claim.
• Due to a mistake on Salerno’s side, they ended up engaged in a PvP fight with Salerno players. (ed. note: What’s Salerno’s demonym?)
• Although Salerno had 8 players present, all of them were pearled facing 3 Hateno players.
  • The reason for Hateno immediately engaging upon conflict is unclear, although some suspect that they initially thought the Salerno players were Alcantarans. It’s also probably worth pointing out that while it’s 8 players, they weren’t kitted up. (ed. note: I have sources, but I forgot to put them in, and I can’t be bothered to look for them right now, sorry!)
• Although all eight players were pearled, they were freed after some discussion.

Now, if you’re a regular Civ player, the above may be quite suspicious, as Hateno was merely only announced a few weeks ago. Before I address that though, let me finish up this section first, OK?

• In retaliation of the incident, Great Western Bay pearled Diegodelhuerto, the leader of Alcantara, storing them in the old (but reactivated) Otonabee vault.
  • Great Western Bay later stated that Thanis had reached out to Salerno “asking them for assistance in attacking [GWB]”.
• Despite the pearling, Alcantara and Great Western Bay were generally amicable in their negotiations and were ready to broker a peace agreement.
• However, because Diego was pearled, Thanis believed he was able to lead Alcantara in a coup of sorts, and attempted to lead a campaign to free Diego from the Otonabee vault.
• This did not materialize as a defector, Maxiro22, pearled Thanis and handed them over to Great Western Bay (in exchange for Diego’s unpearling.)

Great Western Bay and Alcantara then signed the Treaty of Alcantara, which commits a Non-Aggression Pact as well as minor reparation for Alcantara to repay GWB. (ed. note: another alliance to update, VilyanZ!)

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The Great Calamity

SPQR’s Circus Maximus just outside of Roma (cr: me, but thanks to BattleOfSky for touring me around).

Hey, do you fancy section theme number 2?

So, as we talked about earlier, it was sort of suspicious that Hateno won a 3v8 with Salerno. This of course, not to mention the fact that they pearled all 8 players, in addition to the fact that they stored them in a vault. Oh, did I mention they had a vault.

• ASN were naturally on the lookout when it was discovered XavingWing, a leader of Hateno, was wielding a sword that had been used by the Wet Bandits earlier this summer.
• After being confirmed that they were a friend of Not90, a player that insided the ASN (ed. note: fixed on second revision) during the Wet Bandits conflict, they were highly suspicious of the nation.
• Literal hours after the Salerno incident wrapped up, ASN constructed a skybridge heading towards Hateno vault, and disabled their vault.
  • I misnoted up there that while they did have a vault, it was incomplete. However, it is natural that it is generally concerning that you construct a 5-ring vault as one of your first actions on the server.
• Ironically all Hateno players were banned midfight while the skybridge was happening.
  • While it is generally suspected that Hateno players were banned for alt association (and/or Bobby usage, which I am continuing to advocate for!!!), no reasons have been officially confirmed, as is typical.
• Officially, all Hateno lands are currently claimed by the ASN.

On a more personal note, I really wished that Hateno actually blossomed into a real country with good builds, because the idea (and builds) were so different than most other Civ nations. Unfortunately, we can’t have everything…

The Public Forum

Sorry I couldn’t think of a section theme for this one. I think it’s more impactful if read in silence.

I am beginning writing this section at 10:00pm, Pacific Time. How bad could this be?

• On Tuesday, Mark_Antony wrote a post alleging that Exyria had been behind the IbisMan raids.
  • While you may want to read this for the full context, he alleges that after Ibis’ pearling, he had been using Exyrian resources to fund his obbybombing campaigns in the nether, via the Lambat portal.
  • He links this with him being blocked from using the Fempire portal, after they made a deal with Exyria, who demoted ASN members from accessing that portal (which include SPQR) and that Ibis had already been streaming at times when he obbybombed in Exyria discord.
  • This summary is most likely a disservice to the post itself, so you should read the post anyway
• Now, much of this argument also hinges on the fact that there is a single screenshot that simply says “it was tal” with very little evidence to actually target butter_villager in the first place (the player “tal” is referring to.)
  • Toaxbis regarded the post as “delusional” (ed. note: edit civwiki), assuming that Ibis doesn’t kill Exyria because they’re his only friends left on the server.
  • In a reply comment, Spenduh claims that they had been trying to communicate with the ASN but had not made any meaningful contact to resolve these issue.
  • Zalvv further puts the blame on ASN as they allege they have helped them in other situations but failed to respond back for help on issues such as these.
  • While much of this post assumes they make sweeping claims, (w: opinion) it reads more like whining about portal permissions while connecting discord screenshots, with the single throughline being IbisMan.

Alright, it only took 38 minutes to summarize that post. Time for the next one:

• Later that day, Butter_villager refuted nearly every point in a response post the following day. In short:
  • Mark’s “leak” source was Arconis (following a few rounds of telephone from other players), but already had the agreement to release it from the rest of Exyria, and were actively trying to clear their names as they saw it as an framing attempt (ed. note: Apparently, there is a lot more to this point than initially focused, but I am keeping this is as it’s probably the simplest throughline for this post)
  • He refutes the points about their confrontation at the Fempire nether portal, and their supposed “hostile” nature.
  • The Ibis voice chat was a public voice chat that ASN members actively entered later in the day.
  • The post ends with a thorough roast of Mark’s character, after telling newfriends of their hostile nature, alleging Tal raided Varkanos despite the contrary, inconsistent accusations, deliberate problematic framing, and probably worst of all, supporting a racist, transphobic, and overall generally offensive nation in Cordoba
• Actually, the last link/post is quite serious beyond what I actually mentioned. This is especially because of how I and others completely threw the Cordoba conflict under the bus in terms of coverage.
  • After a full year since the conflict, it is quite worse than I originally found it, and that writeup does not hold up a year later. I would have made a further emphasis on SPQR rather than just saying “surprisingly”. I really apologize for my poor coverage of this conflict.
  • Racism is bad. Transphobia is bad. Rape jokes are bad. Harrassment is bad. Let’s get that straight away.
• Anyway, very many people were supportive of the post, as it was considerably well documented, and generally debunked a considerable amount of arguments in one fell swoop
  • One small argument that I want to point out though, is Shadno’s complaint about his DMs getting leaked within this post, despite it not being a problem on Mark’s post.
  • Mark’s response was quite weak. (ed. note: “Minding your own business”? Says the person yelling about Exyria about their business)

Ok, so I just wasted 15 minutes of your life by reading this garbage, what came out of it?

• SPQR immediately turned about face, electing Viktor as the new Consul replacing Mark_Antony.
• The ASN unanimously voted to remove SPQR from the alliance, citing there was “no possible reconciliation…that would be satisfiable to the rest of us while still leaving SPQR in the alliance.”
  • Although not stated but generally for accounting purposes, SPQR was also removed from the Elysian Pact, leaving Volterra as the sole founding member still in the alliance with Nara as a bilateral pact.
• Ending off this section with a sad note unfortunately, Toaxbis posted a now-deleted parody of Mark’s post relating to the above, with them being banned shortly after due to the very crude nature of the post; there are ways to find this post, I’m not going to post it here.
  • They apologized for their behavior shortly after.

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Pavia’s newly “completed” underground Mall of Pavia, directly under Main Street (cr: ArtificialDriver).

Around the Server

So guess what, we’re finally at the section where you don’t have to read the news for an actual story. I hope your eyes are still functioning. Section theme is back, too.

• Cashi3rs was pearled after he pearled JeyHey in Nara as well as attempting to attack itslara13 in Pavia.
  • Now, I saw a more detailed post from itslara however I lost the original source, so be glad you’re not reading a fourth section of this stuff.
• Pavia announced the completed renovation of the Mall of Pavia, along with continued improvements to Main Street.
• NecroSlayerNS and JarvisScott were pearled by kicky_ and EAST following a raid on an Icenian shop, as well as being wanted in Ila’Kyavul. I was online when it happened!
• Salerno, Great Western Bay, and Marstria agreed to create the Occidental Cooperation Organization.
• Khalkedonia announced the construction of two new apartment buildings along with a new rail line to Derzavia.
• Logic_Man announced the winners of the Mount Augusta poetry contest, with former mayor Zaphod being declared the winner with the runners-up being Sakanaotoko and Ukai
• Volterra is planned to hold its next elections within the week!
  • Volterra and Shockton are also single-tracked after construction in Rosslyn.
• Flags announced he would step down as Prime Minister of The Commonwealth (not Lyrean), with KC being appointed the new Prime Minister while waiting for another candidate run opposing him. (ed. note: I really messed up KC’s name the first time despite talking to him so much in CW discord, gosh darn it)

Metagame Highlights

Server Updates

• VintageCiv has announced they would be moving to another network with future updates moving there, with SouthernBloc saying that he “no longer has the mental drive” to maintain a Vintage Story server.
  • He intends for the Patreon to contribute over to the new server, however for those non-migrating nothing has been announced.
  • Essentially, I would call VintageCiv dead in this regard, unless a new player takes the mantle up.
• CivMC warned players that they should turn off radar in VoxelMap, as its radar indirectly shows y-levels of players.

Non-Server Updates

• A series of several posts highlight whether the ASN, Estalia, and the Lyrean Commonwealth were forces for good or bad. YMMV.
• I don’t know whose name this is, but they made a bastion visualization tool that I think is very useful!
• VeinBuddy, a new legal macro that helps diamond vein mining, was “released” via Bob’s Auction last Sunday. It looks really good, although I procrastinated enough to not get permission in time to show what it looks like!
• _MotokoKusanagi showed off a macro that allows a one-click quick crafting mechanism, it’s basically JEI but you don’t need JEI. Very cool!
• Another player created an active player census to get an idea of who is actively playing in each nation.
• Someone wants to know how stocks work. Me too buddy, me too.

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The Fun Stuff

A look through the cherry grove garden into Shiroyama, Nara (cr: me).

Calendar

I’ve moved the calendar down here so it gets slightly more visibility. Hopefully. It’s also supposed to be a fun section.

• September 11 - 11am PST/2pm EST/18:00 UTC - Amazing Civ Poker is holding a mid-stakes game (usually around 25d). You could gain an unlimited amount of money!
• September 13/14 - 11am PST/2pm EST/18:00 UTC each day - Roman Triumph and Games, a celebration of Roman culture and longevity along with fun, lighthearted games!
• September 14 - 11am PST/2pm EST/18:00 UTC - Bunkies bunkies bunkies - Practice Civ attack and defense PVP on new, dynamic maps! Team damage is turned on this week!
• September 14 - 15 - Amazing Civ Poker is holding a high stakes game (probably around 50d). So much gambling!
• September 17, 2pm PST/5pm EST/21:00 UTC - The Commonwealth is doing an on-foot “road trip” across the map ahead of their appearance at the Yoahtl Olympics!
• September 20 - 28 - Yoahtl Olympics are still scheduled, make sure you sign up for events prior to September 18.

Builds

Hey um, guys, what happened to all the builds. I had to grab literally all of the header images you guys have seen this week. It’s ok, I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. I guess you get a few:

• Ansgard went actually off when designing/building the underground Pavia Mall (cr: ArtificialDriver)
• The Central Clocktower in Maris Marilla in Marstria looks spectacular, plucked straight out of Italy (cr: LightStatus, Xa_n)
• A lovely small city park between the rocks in City Park, Exyria (cr: x1025)

Cool Content

• Ok sure, people may not like Sloth, but you can’t deny that this animation kinda be straight fire
  • I actually saw this earlier last week but I requested Sloth to get it back, so huge thanks to furbetii for giving permission, really good stuff :)
• I don’t know so many people who literally make a song (not a disstrack) in response to Civ drama, let alone making it an awesome banger!! great job Sheeve
• Not a build but great shots from x1025, Doommad, and Byhalia for testing out some Olympic events!

Memes

• this is just my life now (cr: rt6yhjyuvy6)
• I am DEMANDING a forged_tk post
• oh daddy peck me again
• I remember when the joke was to copy Square’s paper dog and just remake it (cr: banyough)

Non-Civ Content

Sort of related but if you want to see a heaping selection of questions I answered this week, take a look at this blog post.

• Screw OnTrac. All my homies hate OnTrac. This is the sole reason why I wasted my weekend procrastinating
• No baseball news this week. I just hope some of the teams make up the 3.5gb deficit that’s going on
• The one thing that has sort of kept me going while writing this newsletter has been Celeste’s OST. Lena Raine did an amazing job with this soundtrack (and is even a Cornish graduate!)

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Poll of the Week

A lighthouse along the Great Western Bay in Withervale. (cr: me)

Last week, we had 42 responses. This is actually historically lower than usual, although I think the questions were relatively bland this time around anyway.

Kira Features

It seems clear that the only items that Kira seems useful for are chat relays, especially when people aren’t in game. It’s evident by how many people actually aren’t in game but still type in the global chat. It clogs up the chat quite a bit, don’t you think?

In-game commands are a feature I think can get expanded, but also doesn’t get utilized enough. Accessing name layer groups and permission features out of game is quite convenient.

Speclang Q&A

In the interest of making this newsletter slightly shorter, I answered only the questions I was able to this week, in a separate article, although I didn’t get to all of them nor did I really proofread them. Check them out here!

Vote Now!

If you don’t know your political compass quadrant, take a quick test here (note: defaults to English)

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Sleepless Cry for Help

Byhalia and Doommad fighting it out in the Yoahtl arena. (cr: x1025)

I am currently writing this at 12:30am local time.

This took a significant portion of my Sunday night but honestly, I really did not manage my time this weekend haha! If you really appreciate the newsletter, I’d be happy to just accept donations either to my Monument Bank account (as an ads IOU, or not) to HS-7362, or if for some actual god awful reason you want to donate real actual money, you can donate to my ko-fi instead.

Alright, this wouldn’t have been possible without BritishWanderer, Xcios, Gjum, SteelHand7, Tatsu007, Ansgardd, Ahrimanne, Okx, Shadno, ArtificialDriver, Drekamor, SpeedyJustice, SlothInASuit, matanic1107, Antares/realmichael, Spoopin, HurinThalion, Zolo, Complexii, VilyanZ, Butter_villager, Oko, SpectroElectro, southw3st and whoever else I missed for helping me this week and/or writing this newsletter!

Let’s hope next week is a little less stressful. Until next time…

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